This invention relates to a cassette loader which an improved splicing apparatus for splicing cassette leader tape to magnetic tape to be wound into the cassette shell. High speed automatic cassette loaders are known. Representative Patents disclosing such loaders are U.S. Pat. No. 4061286 (King, Sr. et al), U.S. Pat. No. 3997123 (King), U.S. Pat. No. 3814343 (Bennett) and U.S. Pat. No. 4332355 (Zophy). As used in this application the term "cassette" refers to an industry standard audio cassette such as are shown in the drawings. See, e.g., FIGS. 5B and 5C. Such cassettes are formed of a pair of shell halves which are secured together by glue, screws, sonic welding or other means to form the body of the cassette. A pair of hubs are positioned within the shell halves 12, 13 and are designed to freely rotate. A length of leader tape, about 70 cm., is attached by its opposite ends to the hubs. Thus, as used in the cassette loader the cassette is already loaded with the leader tape. Cassette has a pair of capstan holes and a pair of reference holes on both sides, i.e., in both shell halves. The bottom of the cassette is open to permit access by record and playback heads, drive capstans, etc.
In the audio industry these cassettes are referred to as "C-0" cassettes since in this form the cassette has "zero" minutes of recorded material. The purpose of the cassette loader is to load a predetermined length of magnetic tape into the cassette after the cassette shell has been assembled with the hubs and leader tape inside the cassette shell.
One important step involved in properly loading a cassette is to properly splice leader tape which has been extracted from the cassette to magnetic tape with the prerecorded material so that the magnetic tape can be wound into the cassette. Proper alignment of the leader tape with reference to the magnetic tape, and both with reference to the cassette into which the magnetic tape is to be loaded. The splice is made by butting end-to-end adjacent ends of a length of leader tape and of magnetic tape and then applying a length of adhesive splicing tape over the butted ends. Two splices are required for each cassette wound--one between a first length of leader tape and the leading end of magnetic tape and one between a second length of leader tape and the trailing end of the length of magnetic tape which has just been wound into the cassette.
The invention of this application provides an improved splicing block assembly which enables the splicing operation to be made more reliable while permitting the splicing step to be carried out on a cassette loader which has separate leader tape extraction and magnetic tape loading positions.